Pattani Demonstration of 1975: Lessons Forgotten

Abstract

This article aims to study the major Pattani demonstration during the period between December 1975 and January 1976, arguing that the dominant narrative of this event under the conceptual framework of mainstream history or national history serves to strengthen state power and undermine the role and understanding by the local people and general public. Using both primary and secondary sources, the study found that the protest raised the political awareness and the issue of social justice concerning the Malay Muslim in Thailand. For example, many Zlatan students, the leaders of the protest, entered into the  political system, running for elections and/or working as a lawyer. The protests have also sparked widespread paranoia and conflict, with evidence showing that many of the leaders were followed and some were possibly forced to disappeared by the state agents. The targeting by the government caused some protesters to flee to other parts of the country and some abroad. Although the state tries to erase and suppress the event, the Malays in the three southernmost provinces still remember this event very well until present; it remains a shared public memory of the local people and is part of the identity formation of the Malay Muslim in the area.